I'm Not Leaving You
by Archer 6627
Summary: After seeing Ellie again after six weeks away, Riley decides to take Ellie out to mend their relationship after the mistakes she had made. However, this trip went very wrong and now Ellie's bitten. Riley refuses to leave her behind and waits it out with her. Warning: Yuri


**Last of Us Fanfiction**

**I'm not leaving you**

_**Summery:**_ After seeing Ellie again after six weeks away, Riley decides to take Ellie out to mend their relationship after the mistakes she had made. However, this trip went very wrong and now Ellie's bitten. Riley refuses to leave her behind and waits it out with her.

**Warning: Yuri**

_Chapter 1:_

Ellie and Riley danced together on the thick glass casing of the electronics store (if you could call jumping and flailing your arms around dancing). Ellie was having a great night so far, excluding the fact that Riley told her that she was being shipped out to a different Firefly settlement in another city.

She was a mix of emotions, she was happy to be with Riley after six long weeks apart, but harrowed at the thought of perhaps never seeing her best and only friend again. Ellie had told Riley that she should go for it, this was her dream after all, to be a Firefly.

Ellie stopped dancing and suddenly grew very still, overwhelmed by her thoughts that flew around in her head. The worst thought of all was that she would be left alone. First her Mother, now this.

"Hey." Riley turned to Ellie, her smile dissolved rapidly after seeing Ellie's sorrowful state. Riley put a hand to her shoulder.

"Ellie, what's wrong?" Riley looked at Ellie with soft round eyes full of compassion.

Ellie looked up at Riley's face and met her eyes firmly. "Please don't go." She pleaded quietly, her bottom lip trembled and her eyes started to water.

Riley thought for a few seconds, then yanked the Firefly pendant from her neck and threw it across the store. This one act filled Ellie with joy and before Riley could say anything, Ellie pulled Riley close and pressed their mouths together softly. She pulled away just as quickly and Riley looked at her in stupor.

"I-I'm sorry." Ellie stuttered, abashed. She folded her arms over her chest defensively and looked away. _That was so stupid! _Ellie berated herself.

"For what?" Riley asked. Ellie looked at Riley and blushed when she saw her smile a little shyly. In that one moment, warmth flooded every fibre of Ellie's being and she beamed at Riley.

"What now?" Ellie asked, giddy with excitement but unsure of how Marlene would take this news after Riley had tried for so long to impress her.

Riley chuckled and shook her head. "We'll figure it out. But, I don't think Marlene's gonna go for it-"

Ellie's head shot to the side. "Wait." Ellie heard a noise besides the music that blared throughout the store, it was running footfalls from beyond the shelves packed with CD players. They both turned their full attention on that corner of the store.

A zombie burst out an ran at them, his eyes cold and dead, his skin pale and decayed. Ellie stumbled backwards subconsciously and Riley pulled a gun, a real gun out of somewhere and shot the bastard in his face.

"Bang!" He crumpled to the floor and stopped moving.

Suddenly a whole pack of those things now swarmed them. Riley stood tall seemingly in control of this situation. She shot a path through them and they ran out the back door of the shop and went down a maintenance corridor.

"Ellie stay close, we're gonna get out of this okay?" Riley said. She wasn't sure if Riley said this for her benefit or herself. As Ellie followed Riley though a seemingly endless labyrinth of corridors and rooms, she doubted this chase would ever end.

Riley skid over a table and kept her gun at the ready in both hands waiting for Ellie to follow. An infected lunged at Riley while she covered Ellie. Riley bucked against the husk but it held strong. Ellie flicked her switch blade and leaped on it's back.

Ellie dove the blade into it's neck four times until it toppled to the floor. Ellie rose, covered in blood. "Thanks." Riley said breathlessly. "Let's go."

They kept going until infected were running towards them from in front and behind. "Shit!" Riley looked around feverishly.

Ellie's heart threatened to break out of her ribcage. "They're getting closer!"

"Jesus... Follow me!" Riley jumped off the railing and landed with a smooth roll on some scaffolding. Ellie followed suit as Riley led the way. She tried her very best to block out the noises the infected were making, their rasping breath and groans were very off-putting.

_Just keep going, don't look behind and don't look below. _She told herself.

"There's an open window! Come on!" She called.

Ellie was on the verge of having a panic attack, now the infected's horrific orchestra of wails were louder than her startled breath and the rushing of blood in her body. They had to be right behind her.

Riley reached the wall where the open window taunted them, their escape was so close. She climbed even higher on the scaffolding. The last bit was taller than the rest with metal rungs that Ellie used to climb up.

Riley was at the window and knelt down from the window ledge. "Reach up Ellie, I've got you!"

Ellie stretched her hand out and was mere inches away from Riley's. The scaffolding tipped and she fell backwards. "Oh God!" Ellie screamed.

Ellie landed hard on the lower scaffolding and tumbled down to the ground. She grunted as her side made contact with the ground, her eyes were clamped shut in response to the pain that shot through her body. "Ellie look out!"

The sound of a gun firing filled the room. Once, twice, three times. After a few more rounds, Ellie's blood turned to ice and her heart pounded. Riley had to reload.

She finally had the courage to open her eyes as the room was a lot quieter. Still, she did not like what she saw. Two infected sprinted at her. Ellie's switch blade had fallen out of her hand and slid across the floor out of reach.

Ellie tried desperately to drag herself away, but her body was sluggish and unresponsive after her long sprint. "Fuck!"

"Bang!" One hit the tiled ground face first and a pool of blood leaked out from the wound.

Unfortunately, the other jumped at Ellie, sensing easy prey. It landed on her and Ellie was horrified. She used her hands to push at it's shoulders. It looked at her with empty eyes. It mashed it's teeth at her hungrily and clawed at her with his hands. It's shaggy black hair was tangled with dirt and blood.

For a dead person, it had a lot of strength. Ellie's arms were lead and the zombie was winning this battle. She cried out as it bit her forearm.

"Riley!" She begged.

"Bang!" The infected fell to the side and blood spurted out of it's neck. Ellie looked to her right and saw Riley on the ground with her.

The zombie was still groaning and spluttering. Ellie grabbed her weapon and stabbed the creature in the eye several times. "You bastard! You fucking-" Riley's warm arm touched Ellie's and calmed her down. "It's dead, we're safe."

Ellie turned to Riley with tear-stained eyes. "Ellie?"

She showed her the bite. Riley stared in disbelief. She looked devastated. "Oh fuck..." Riley sat on the ground and brought her legs to her chest. "Fuck! This is my fault! If I just... I was at the wrong angle, I couldn't shoot him without risking shooting you." She explained.

"Riley, you did all you could. You saved me like, ten times." Ellie said softly. She looked at the bite as fresh blood poured from it.

"Still, I could've- done something, I don't know!"

Then it dawned on Ellie. "I- I have two days, right?"

Riley looked up at Ellie sorrowfully. "Yeah, maybe less. Could be two days or two minutes." She shrugged.

"You should go." Ellie said softly. Riley looked at Ellie as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"What?"

"I don't want to turn and hurt you. If I did..." Ellie clenched her fists. "I just can't think about that."

Riley stood and stepped close to Ellie, even though Ellie was hesitant to get this close. "I don't care about that." She shook her head. "There are a million ways we could've died before today and a million ways we could die before tomorrow."

Riley continued. "We should fight for every second we get to spend with each other. I'm not going to let you die on your own."

Riley looked at Ellie with a fierce determination in her eyes that she loved to see. Ellie knew that once Riley had made up her mind, there was no way to stop her. "I'm not going to leave you Ellie."

She kissed Ellie on the cheek lightly. Cordyceps was transmitted through bodily fluids such as saliva so Ellie was pleased that it was not a full on kiss (as much as she wanted it to have been).

"Not now, not ever."

* * *

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" Ellie smashed some old pots with a rusty iron pipe. After only small shards remained, she dropped down next to Riley.

"Feeling any better? If not there's more stuff over there you can break." She said jovially. Ellie smiled despite her bleak looking future. Riley was still trying to make her laugh, even in a time like this.

"A little." Her voice was still hoarse from crying earlier. Ellie glimpsed at her bite that was now cleaned, stitched and bandaged by Riley. They had cleaned themselves, changed clothes and retrieved their backpacks from the now vacant store and searched for more things to do.

It was now the day after Ellie was bitten and the sun was beginning to set. The sky was a beautiful orange and the towering buildings of the Boston quarantine zone cast long shadows. The city seemed miles away, like they were in a completely different world. It was a lovely sight and she enjoyed sharing it with Riley.

"So..." Ellie said. "Are you up for another round of puns?" Ellie waved the pun book tauntingly.

"Sure." Riley grinned. "Hit me."

Ellie smirked, opened the book to where they left off and cleared her throat. "I used to have a fear of hurdles, but I got over it."

"Ha, I get it." Riley said with a chuckle.

"Don't trust people that do acupuncture, they're back stabbers." Ellie laughed and nodded in agreement.

"When Peter Pan punches, they Neverland... I don't get it, did he just have bad aim?" Ellie asked. "He must do." She replied.

"I used to be addicted to soap, but I'm clean now." They both laughed.

"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana." Riley looked confused, then a look of clarity passed her features. "Oh! Fruit, banana, yep I get it."

"Okay last one. Sleeping comes so naturally to me, I could do it with my eyes closed."

Ellie smirked. "Some of these are so lame."

"Well yeah, but they're still awesome!" Riley argued.

"Totally." She agreed. She put the book back in her backpack and sighed.

"Are you okay?" She asked softly.

"Riley, I'm scared." Riley placed her hand on Ellie's and brushed her thumb over Ellie's skin.

"Death happens to all of us Ellie, it's a natural thing. I know that probably doesn't make you feel any better but at least you won't be in this hell hole of a world anymore."

Ellie leaned into Riley and Riley wrapped her arms around her. Ellie's head was in the crook of Riley's neck as she looked out at the sky and it's new streaks of dark blue.

"You know how I thought I'd go?" Riley asked. She felt Ellie's gaze on her, waiting for her to continue. "I would be burning down packs of zombies with a flamethrower, or maybe a tank! Hell yes, that would be awesome." She nodded as if to complement her own statement.

"Well maybe you could still do that." Ellie said evenly. Riley looked at her with soft dark eyes, tinged with sadness. "You know that won't happen."

"Riley-"

"Ellie, please." She said firmly. "I've made up my mind. I can deal with this, at least I'll be with you. It could be a lot worse." She reasoned.

Ellie felt her cheeks burn and failed to hold back her smile. "Riley, I love-"

"I know, but please don't say it, it's like you're saying your last words." She kissed Ellie on the forehead.

"You know I'm terrible with goodbyes." She said sadly.

"I forgive you for that. We're good, we're better than good."

They spent the rest of the evening with each other and watched the sun set and the moon rise. Ellie's eyes were heavy and although at this time she was calm, collected and loved in Riley's arms, she was very aware that she may never wake up.

"Goodnight Ellie."

"Goodnight Riley."

* * *

Ellie woke up and found that she was using her rucksack as a pillow. She covered her eyes lethargically to shield them from the bright light that shone through the open windows. The sun was high in the sky and she sat up and found that Riley was gone.

Fear clutched at her heart like a stone sinking at the bottom of a river. "Riley?" She called.

Silence. She started to worry. _Riley wouldn't leave me._

"Yeah, I'm here." Riley walked out of a food store with some canned peaches in her hand. Ellie was relieved.

She grinned. "Where did you get those?"

"In there." She gestured to where she had come from. "There's lots of canned food and luckily some can openers too. I don't think this part of the mall has had many looters considering it's a restricted area full of infected. Or, was." She corrected.

Riley sat cross-legged on the tiled floor and set the can down between them. "Help yourself, I've got more in my pack."

"Thanks." As they ate, Ellie thought it was weird how blades of grass sprouted through the floor or how vines covered the ceiling. She guessed it was because of the twenty odd years of neglect. All buildings were like this now. Ellie wondered as she often did about what the world was like before the pandemic.

Riley seemed very relaxed considering the circumstances. Seemingly without a care in the world. "How are you feeling?" She asked as she put a slice of peach into her mouth and chewed.

"Pretty good actually. Just a little tired."

"Hmm." Riley looked deep in thought.

"What are you thinking?" Ellie asked.

She paused for a second. "You're immune."

Ellie was speechless. "That's impossible." She said eventually.

"Is it? You're still eating and drinking normally, you haven't got a fever, you're not pale and the bite hasn't spread across your arm." She said matter-of-factly.

She crossed her arms resolutely and smiled. "This is supposed to be your last day and you're feeling fine. You look well enough." She added.

"Well yeah, I guess." What Riley was saying was totally true, but that wasn't the way things were. You got bitten and you died. That was a fact of life.

"The Fireflies are looking for a cure, this is it Ellie!" She said excitedly. "They could make a vaccine or something, no more zombies. Can you imagine?"

"I know what you're saying Riley, but this is just really hard to believe."

"We should go to Marlene and tell her, we'll see what happens after that. This is a one in a million chance to make a difference." Riley said, completely convinced.

"If Marlene knew I was infected, I would be shot on sight." Ellie said bluntly.

"I doubt she would turn down a chance at a cure. I would vouch for you, she'd probably watch you for a little while just to make sure you weren't gonna turn. You'll be fine, I know it." Riley said confidently.

Ellie sighed. "What have I got to loose? Lead the way."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**I've been wanting to write a fanfic about Ellie and Riley since the Left Behind DLC was released. I thought now would be a better time than ever so... Here it is. **

**Now the way I see it, there are two ways to go from here. There's the 'easy way' where I can just leave it to your imagination and not write any more or, I could continue writing and rewrite the events of 'The Last of Us' with Riley tailored into the story (so obviously quite a few events would happen differently).**

**So please let me know what you think, should I keep going or stop? Is there anything I can do better next time?**


End file.
